MYSBLT: NYE 2010, Vampire Weekend, Coachella 2010, Jay Reatard

by Taylor Roberts in Album Reviews, Celebrity News, Concert Reviews, Honoring Lives, Indie Release Highlights, Industry News, Musician Reviews, New Releases, New Vinyl Releases, News, Reviews, bands to watch

In this issue of Music You Should be Listening to:

Welcome to 2010! The Indie music world has been gearing up for these first couple months and MYSBLT is all a buzz for things to come. New Years Eve is one of the best nights for hearing good music, but only if you are willing to spend a little extra. So I will let you in on the secret to dropping less coin without sacrificing good tunes. For those of you who have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the new Vampire Weekend album, I will let you know what I think of my first couple listens. Want a hint? I am not happy. On the side of recent news, the Coachella 2010 lineup has been announced and we finally have news from the guys at Brand New who have been tormenting their fans with the possible release of God and the Devil on vinyl. And finally, MYSBLT will pay its last respects to indie garage rock mastermind Jay Reatard who tragically passed away on January 13^th at the age of 29.

Happy New Year to my fellow Princeton Record Exchange friends. 2009 was a great year for the Independent Music scene and if January and February are any indication, 2010 will continue to raise the bar. Here in the Mile High City, New Years Eve officially got things off to a quick start. Around the mountain region we had fantastic shows to ring in 2010. Devotchka, Pepper, Paper Birds and two nights of Yonder Mountain String Band kept crowds dancing and drinking all night long. But if you are anything like me, broke and desperate for good music, you cannot shovel out the big bucks to celebrate NYE with national acts at premium venues. This year to see Yonder Mountain at the Fillmore Auditorium cost you 150 big ones. So instead of letting the suits run us dry, try my super secret New Years Eve tradition… Find a good local band to rock out with! All I had to do was go online and check the schedule for some of my favorite venues, the type of places the national acts would turn their noses up. I decided to see local bands, The Knew and Brothers O’Hair at a small 100 person venue in downtown Denver. The show was fantastic, as both acts typically are, and the ticket was less than two beers. Now that is some serious economical entertainment and it frees up more funds for booze! I have to say I was most impressed with Brothers O’Hair and their fresh take on Irish punk. They are firmly planted on my radar for 2010 and no doubt we will be hearing more from them soon. Supporting local bands has been a long held tradition of mine and it is a great way to celebrate any occasion without breaking the bank. And of course, it is all while supporting some worthy artists and striving to say, “I heard them first.” I would love to know what kind of shows our readers attended for NYE and what local acts are primed for big things in the coming year. Leave comments here at Prex.com and on the MYSBLT Facebook fan page and let me know how you rung in 2010.

From the realm of new releases, no story has been bigger than Vampire Weekend dropping their new album Contra. No doubt this is not “news” to all of you, seeing as how the release just hit number 1 on Billboard. So I figured I would get my two cents in on Contra, late as it is. To keep this short and sweet, if you loved VW’s first album, go out and buy another one, rather than Contra. In the spring of 2008 I listened to the self-titled debut enough to make my ears bleed. Songs like Oxford Comma and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa caused me to lose my voice and drew a few stairs from people stuck with me in traffic. That being said, I was all charged up to see how the band was going to evolve with the January 2010 release. To my disappointment, lead singer Ezra Koenig had opted for an almost exclusive voice box approach, especially in the few live sets I have seen since the release. Why on earth does a rocker with one of the most distinct, infectious voices want to make himself sound more like T-Pain? I understand the decision, seeing as how Ezra has recently been joining forces with hip-hop acts like Jay-Z and I am sure XL Records wanted them to have a more progressive, radio friendly approach. However, it still feels like an injustice to the talent of Vampire Weekend’s front man. Besides the obvious pain of hearing Koenig’s voice disguised, the lyrics are shallow and simplistic. And I seriously cannot listen to the album all the way through without getting bored, angry and in need of something else. I will mark one positive point for the album, the arrangements are again terrific. Musically, the band has brought in more complex instrumentals and vivacious drums. The most blatant example of the albums missteps and instrumentals is the song “Cousins” which they performed live on The Tonight Show in early January. The instrumentals are so impressive but Keonig sings into a computer the entire time. So please, please, if you are reading this Ezra, drop the voice box and go back to your god given vocals.

As for news in Indie music, it has been a busy January already. The biggest story to date has to be the announcement of Coachella 2010.  Again the three day California music festival will feature nearly every major Indie act out there. Spoon, Pavement, Phoenix, Local Natives, Matt & Kim… and that is just the final day. Best of all, the festival will conclude with the return of Gorillaz! The brainchild of Blur front man Damon Albarn will burst back onto the scene this March with the release of their third album Plastic Beach. To say the release is highly anticipated would be an understatement. Gorillaz has made us wait more than 5 years for new music, but it should be worth it. Plastic Beach will feature guest spots from Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, De La Soul and many others. MYSBLT will review it for you as soon as I get my grubby little hands on it. Probably the most interesting aspect of Coachella in 2010 is the inclusion of hip-hop, an unfamiliar aspect to the typically all indie rock lineup.  The hip-hop scene has of recent been sampling indie riffs and collaborating with the best new minds in rock. None other than Jay-Z will be starting things off on day one and should be joined by artists like Ezra Keonig and others. I cannot wait to see how the hip-hop acts are received by the crowd and exactly how they will collaborate with the other bands.

In other news, Brand New has finally reconciled their dispute with photographer Daniel Johnston, who successfully blocked last year’s anticipated release of God and the Devil are Raging Inside Me on vinyl. The release has been pushed back twice now and was even taken completely off the table at one point. However, the fans who expressed their displeasure through nearly every rock blog and forum have found victory and it will finally see the light of day as a double LP released March 23^rd.Yay!

Finally, it is with great sadness that I write this paragraph. On January 13^th, 2010, Memphis garage rocker Jay Reatard was found dead in his home at the age of 29. Born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. on May 1^st 1980, Jay rose to indie fame in the late 90’s and early 2000’s playing with bands like The Reatards and The Lost Sounds. He broke his solo career in 2006 with the release of Blood Visions on label, In the Red. Upon receiving high praise from the Indie Blog-O-Sphere he was signed to Matador and dropped his 2009 follow up, Watch Me Fall. The cause of death has yet to be determined but the Memphis police have opened a homicide investigation. Rest in peace Jimmy Lindsey, you will be missed.

For now,

Love, Peace and Chicken Grease.